‘Fake’ just keeps growing to epic proportions in China. The latest to join the bandwagon is a fake police academy that was allegedly duping students into believing they would receive a real degree. The Jiamusi People’s Police Academy in the Shandong Province offered three-year courses on law enforcement studies, at the end of which students would receive a degree and also employment with crime-fighting police teams. The £2,000 ($3,200) course was supposed to be taught by veteran officers. It was all the doing of Wei Zhenhai, the president of the fake academy.

Everything was going according to plan for Mr. Zhenhai and the Jiamusi Academy, until a suspicious parent tipped off the real police in September of last year. A couple of police constables then paid a visit to the academy undercover, dressed as students. During the interview, Mr. Zhenhai couldn’t help himself and ended up boasting about his contacts in high places that would help him secure employment for his students. The constables saw through his flimsy lies and immediately pounced on the ‘president’ and his staff. They were arrested and the academy closed down.

Further investigations revealed that Mr. Zhenhai was previously a failed instant-noodle entrepreneur who spent 3 years in prison for blackmail. He also worked as an admissions director at a real school. Subsequently, he spent all his life savings ($32,000) on setting up the mock police academy business. He actually forged a commissioning letter from the real Jiamusi Academy in Heilongjiang province, stating that they had given permission for the opening of a branch in Shandong. Mr. Zhenhai had also begun shopping online for uniforms and equipment. It’s lucky that his fake act was busted before he could do any real damage to the careers of several students.